So Emmy has informed M. that she'd rather not eat if I give her a sandwich for lunch. When she was in pre-k I used to be somewhat creative and now I'm always running around and running last minute so a sandwich and fruit and crackers is J. plain easy but after learning shes not eating it anyway, or using her magical pin to buy a snack at school and throw her sandwich away I need some inspiration for lunches.
Side note
Who's brilliant idea is it to give a Kindergartener a pin number to be able to order food at 5 years old? They give her a pin and if she buys lunch we need to put money in the account or we get a bill. Seriously though, if someone gave M. a magical number I could say to get unlimited snacks and drinks at school it would be hard for M. to eat that same old sandwich too. They don't even limit the number of food items. During the begining of the year she'd come home with 4 bags of unopened snacks and J. eat the fruit she brought. Then she;d tell M. how they anounced that if they want a popsicle to get in line so of course she was going to follow orders...We've since had talks about how it does cost money and she is not to buy if she';s sent with lunch. Talk about teaching using credit instread of cash at an early age. We were joking that shes going to start going to the store and J. say her pin to get something.
Back to the lunch issue
She won't eat peanut butter
and doesnt like wraps
I've only got salads and veggies and dips and sandwiches and cold chicken nuggets and peperoni and cheeses on my mind for possible lunches.
I don't like lunchables
Ideas?
I have talked to her about J. using the pin and it has changed. Most of that was in the begining of the year. I never spoke to her about ti and assumed they wouldn't let them buy if they brought lunch and assumed they would be allowed one entree, one fruit and one drink. I didn't realize there was limitless snacks, chips, fruit, juice....
she does listen now, except for the occasional confession of buyin a snack when she said he sandwich tasted bad
My son always hated sandwiches....but he loved wraps.
I used to pack him cold meatballs, veggies and ranch dip, fruit salads, crackers and cheese, cold pizza (YES--I know!).
Pepperoni bread, cold pork chop, Chicken legs....mac & cheese in a little Thermos, soup......
(Tip from mom of a sandwich hater: sometimes a cool bun, pretzel bread, croissant or such was exempt from the "sandwich" label for us.)
My daughter has had a PIN number to buy her lunch at school since Kindergarten, and we have never had an issue with it. When I send her lunch to school with her, which I always do now, she eats it. I don't think that there's a problem with the PIN system, I think if your kid is throwing her lunch away and buying it, then she needs to be made aware of what behavior is acceptable and what is not. Like everything else in life, self control is learned. In fact, I'd much rather use the PIN system than send my kid to school with money that she could potentially lose or have stolen. I have told my daughter she is only allowed to buy a treat (like an ice cream bar or popsicle) on Fridays. She adheres to that rule. (And with most schools, you can log into their lunch account and see what she is buying).
Anyway, on to your question:
Bagel pizza (small bagel, pizza sauce, mozzarella cheese)
Homemade lunchable (whole wheat crackers, cut up ham, cheese slices)
Wrap (tortilla, wrap with lunch meat & cheese & veggies)
PB&J Bagels or English muffins instead of regular bread
Get a thermos, put soup or mac&cheese in it
Leftover pizza
We have a funtainer food thermos. It keeps things warm for about five hours or so. So my kiddo has pretty much anything..pasta, chicken nuggets, sliders, fried rice, soups, steamed veggies. Etc. Basically if I can make it fit, he can take it to lunch. I fill it up with hot water (I used to microwave it, now I use our keurig) when we are eating breakfast to let it get hot. Right before we walk out the door I nuke something a little hotter than if we were going to eat it right then, dump the water out and stick the food in.
For other cold ideas...my son loves salads. Especially if I put the parts in and he gets to put it together himself. Humus is another popular choice. I make little skewers of turkey and cheese cube on pretzle sticks too.
make your own lunchable with the pepperoni or salami and cheese and tricuits.
Yogurt and granola
Homemade chicken salad with sliced grapes.
Will they heat up food for her? If so, my kids also like to take spaghetti O's or mac and cheese from time to time.
My kids also like to take homemade burritos and will eat them cold - J. tortialla, ref beans, cheese, lettuce and maybe some sour cream too.
chunks of leftover meat?
I figure as long as there is a protein, some fruit/veggie and some good carb (maybe also dairy) then it's all good!!!!
I came across 20 recipes for wraps I can email you (or anyone else that wants it). I'm not sure if its things she likes or not, but its a big variety. J. message M. your email if you want to see it and I'll send it.
I heard somewhere that you can make ahead and freeze pancakes and put some pbj in the middle and make sandwhiches. Or when my kids spend the night at my moms, she makes them frozen waffles with cream cheese in the middle, you could use anything and flavored waffles, etc. Not the healthiest maybe, but different from sandwiches. Good luck.
If you have leftovers from dinner send them in a thermos (they make them now to fit any foods). My daughter is very picky so I let her help prepare her lunch for the day, we usually do it the night before.
You can make your own lunchables have your daughter pick items that she likes to eat. I pack cheese and sauce with some bread so that my daughter can make her own little pizzas. If my daughter doesn't eat her lunch then she goes hungry. Her school only serves lunch 3 days a week (private school).
We love Bento Boxes! You can look up a lot of recipes online. Why not get your daughter involved in making her own "fun" lunch? She might enjoy making little animals and faces to eat. Plus a lot can be done with a cookie cutter. When my daughter gets tired of sandwiches, I cut the bread into a heart or star with a cookie cutter. What was "tired" suddenly becomes "fun!" Plus she doesn't like the crust. I take the leftover crusts from the cookie cutter and make breadcrumbs to be used for dinners. You can cut the bread AND the lunchmeat with a cookie cutter.
We do soft tacos in lunches. I put small containers of cheese, refried beans, chopped tomatoes, etc, into his lunch box along with 2 soft taco shells. Then he puts whatever he wants on the taco when he gets to school.
My son's school has lunch cards where when he buys lunch he charges the lunch to the card. It is monitored through www.mylunchmoney.com. I receive and email when the card gets to below $5. We have the lunch menu on our fridge, and my son looks through the menu and decides when he wants to buy lunch and when he wants to take lunch. I have received a 'send in money' note from the cafeteria because he decided he wanted to buy lunch on a day that I sent lunch because the check hadn't gone through yet. I send in checks, but you can have it linked to a credit card to automatically allow a charge of $25+ whenever it gets low. I like J. sending a check because I can keep track better. Of course the one time I sent in cash the envelope was misplaced for 3 days which prompted the 'you owe us' note.
Anyways... some things that my kids like.
- cheese cubes/chunky strips.
- Ritz crackers
- chunky lunch meat cut into circles/shapes (mimicking lunchables)
- apple slices with caramel sauce
- chunks of lunch meat cut into strips
- bagel crips
- thin bagels, pepperoni, and cheese strips
- gogurt
My son likes variety as well.
Therefore, I have given him the following:
Homemade Lasagne "(and other types of pasta)
a grilled boneless piece of chicken (cut up of course) with veggies on the side.. These include steamed and or raw.
Various types of beans from chili, black bean to pinto .. Including a tortilla that I warmed and put in aluminum foil
I have made Greek Salad (for which he loves) you can even add chicken.. along with a pita bread and some hummus..
Leftovers from dinner such as grilled steak.. again, I will cut up in small bites and add veggies on the side.. including roasted potatoes,,
I know your daughter doesn't like wraps, what about Naan.. my son LOVES it... with his favorite deli meat in it.. I toast it slightly and will also add spinach or lettuce.. also, he loves Calamata olives . thefore I usually add pitted ones.
Would she eat a hardboiled egg?
Homemade Risotto is another lunch my son will take..
Roasted Pork . again serves with side of veggies.
I pretty much will send for lunch what most people might eat for dinner..
My son doesn't care as long as it is good..
best of luck to you
Most schools have a computer system now and they will put a block on snacks and such if you call and let them know. Not sure if her school does this but most do. The type of blocks very from school to school but with every school all of my kids have been to (military moving) each school had a block system. My kids are on reduced lunches so we're on a budget. But I call at the beginning of the year and ask what kind of blocks they have and put on every kind they offer. If they don't offer blocks then talk to the office and kitchen and ask them to discuss putting one in place. My teens high school has a block where they can only pay for one lunch a day from their meal account. They can't pay cash at the lunch line to save time so I put a block on my son's account because he felt bad for some friends who had no money to eat. I understand but I can't afford to feed everyone with 4 kids and being on reduced lunches. At my triplets elementary school I put a block on them being allowed to buy snacks from their lunch account. Their old school allowed us to block snacks and juice. I wanted my kids to drink milk so I blocked their juice. At this new school they give both juice and milk and they only block snacks so that is blocked. Oh, and I have the ability to block the purchase of breakfast as well. First day of school my kids didn't understand that they couldn't have breakfast at school after having breakfast at home, lol. So I blocked breakfast as well.
Anyway, for lunches, you don't like Lunchables but you can make your own type of "lunchables" choosing your own meat, cheese and crackers. Your daughter can help pick them out too. There's ravioli and beefaroni. Ramon noodles. Grilled cheese and tomato soup. Hot dog and veggie chips. Chicken and Stars soup. Pizza rolls. Tortilla chips and cheesy dip. Tortilla chips and salsa. Homemade quessadillas with 2 small flour tortillas, mexi cheese and chicken chunks heated in a pan and cut into quarters with salsa on the side. Any of these can be made into a healthy version and she can help pick different varieties.
K. B
mom to 5 including triplets
I have a similar problem with my kindergartner. I finally told him that instead of complaining he should tell M. what he *does* want. I can't always say yes to every request and there's a bit of negotiation, but it helps to have him participate in choosing what goes in his lunch box.
What did you used to make in pre-K when you were more creative? I also need lunch ideas. My son has never liked sandwiches - unless I'm about to take a bite out of one (*eye roll*). We usually pack him cheese, crackers, and fruit for his preschool lunches. Sometimes yogurt, applesauce, a bagel with cream cheese, edamame, or grape tomatoes when we have them. I'll have to look into a thermos to keep things like mac n cheese warm. That's a great idea.
As a regular substitute teacher for elementary , I see a lot of options.
First as an address to the "credit" issue. ALL children have an account with the cafeteria. ALL children have a pin. This is used when everyone buys lunch at school. We go through a website where the monies can be replenished. If money is not replenished and a child is coming through the line, they get a note to remind parents to replenish the account and a cheese sandwich.
That said, parents have first call on what children are allowed to purchase and not. Example, one kid routinely gets 2 pizzas on pizza day... he is turned away everytime because there is a note on his account to have 1 pizza with the other courses served. Same goes for snacks. Snacks are only offered to the higher grades, not K. There is no option for ice cream, etc.
I get where you are coming from with "credit" but this program works well for children because most are not capable of keeping up with daily cash. The lunch ticket back in the old days is the same effect. Of course, debt free and no credit is to be taught but the lunch account which is YOUR money is different.
Now for options... I see a lot of soups, noodles, hot rice, etc in a thermos. I see a lot of yogurt, veggies with dip, meat snacks, cheeses, peanut butter (I know many people frown upon that but is is a good source), leftover pizza wrapped in foil, cold chicken nuggets, gogurt is popular but it is a nightmare to open. You see it all in our lunchroom.
Also, teachers do not allow children, especially K, to opt out of eating lunch from home or ditching lunch from home to go through the line.
Are there no parent volunteers or teachers supervising your K group at lunch?
Check out this site. Under Neat Ideas, there is an endless amount of ideas in the gallery! It's my favorite site!
